Despite spending the entire school day blending in with his equally colorful peers thanks to Kuroba's antics, Saguru was more than relieved to slide into the back of Baaya's car where the tinted windows gave him enough privacy that he could drop his careful, neutral, uncaring attitude and let out a long sigh, running his fingers through his blue hair.

"Long day, Botchama?" Baaya asked from the front as she turned on the engine.

"And getting longer." He said, looking up to meet her concerned eyes in the rearview mirror. "I need to-"

"To go to Kuroba-kun's home." She said with a nod. "I do remember your call today at lunch." She raised an eyebrow at him.

Call? He'd made no such call-Kuroba. Saguru exhaled, fishing his phone out of his pocket to check his call history. Sure enough, someone had used his phone to contact her in the middle of their lunch break. "Of course. Apologies, Baaya. As you said...it's been a long day."

She made a noise of concern, eyeing him. "Perhaps you should delay your meet up then until after you get some res-"

Saguru shook his head, slipping his phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes as he leaned back, relaxing as the car pulled away from the school. "I'll be fine, Baaya. I've gone with less sleep before."

And he had to admit, he was growing more curious. First the note. Now the phone call...a backup measure just in case he didn't see the original message? Why risk it? Why be so-bold?

It didn't make any sense.

Why would Kuroba want to meet with him? There had been no need-for well, any of this. For pretending that he was the one to dye him blue. For ensuring that Saguru wasn't the sole focus of gawking stares from his peers for the day.

While it hadn't been unwelcomed...it definitely was out of character for his KID suspect.

Especially when today could only be considered a small reprieve. He was still no closer to getting the dye out of his skin and with Kuroba periodically changing the rest of their classmates back to normal before school let out...it meant that tomorrow-

Saguru grimaced, fingers clenching on the seat as Baaya slowed at a light before turning right, taking them the opposite direction from their home.

Tomorrow he'd be the only one in his class still blue.

It probably would cause some raised eyebrows, but not much comment for maybe the next day or two. After all, Kuroba did target him with tricks and pranks that took time for him to get rid of.

But the longer he went without returning to normal...the more likely it would be that the truth would get out about-

"Botchama? We're here."

Saguru slowly opened his eyes, taking in the house before him, not at all surprised they'd arrived so quickly. He knew that Aoko-san and Kuroba walked to school, hence they would have to live close by.

But he, himself, hadn't come here since he first pegged Kuroba as his most likely KID candidate.

Saguru had considered doing so after the incident at the heist where he'd ended up in a brief coma, but it hadn't felt right to disturb Kuroba on his turf. Not when they weren't quite...friends...and not quite enemies anymore either.

Baaya turned in her seat, giving him a studying look. "Do you need me to wait?"

Saguru glanced around the neighborhood to ensure no one was about before he opened the door. "I'm not sure how long I will be." He said slipping out, offering her a tight smile. He didn't know what Kuroba wanted with him or why he said to meet here. At his place. It was just...odd. Odd for his KID suspect. Kuroba had never wanted him near his house before. "I'll give you a call when I'm ready."

She nodded, a crease forming between her eyes as she looked to the house. "Do be careful, Botchama." She cautioned.

"Of course." He said, shutting the door, rubbing the scars on his right arm as he quickly headed for the front door before anyone could see his blue complexion, wary for any...traps that may be waiting for him.

Just because the house looked like any other normal home on the block didn't mean it actually was safe for him to approach it in a normal manner.

In retrospect, Saguru exhaled as he paused on the doorstep. He had no idea if Kuroba was even home. After all, school had barely been out fifteen minutes, surely it wasn't enough time for him to get-

The door opened just as he raised his hand to knock, revealing Kuroba already out of his school uniform and wearing a simple maroon long-sleeved shirt and pants.

Good news. Kuroba didn't look surprised to see him. So he'd been correct in assuming the message and phone call were from him, though how he'd gotten home and changed so quickly was a question Saguru doubted the magician would answer should he ask it. Had he run? Left school early to hide any potential evidence?

Kuroba raised an eyebrow to Saguru's hand before his eyes flickered to the street behind him, taking in Baaya's car and the neighborhood before he took a step back, gesturing for him to come inside. "You gonna stand there all day like some sort of garden gnome?"

More good news. With his skin dyed currently as it was, there was no way Kuroba would be able to see him flush even though Saguru could feel his cheeks burning. "Are you actually inviting me inside?" He asked, dropping his hand. As much as he wanted to get out of sight-he couldn't believe that his KID suspect was actually letting him enter his home like this.

Kuroba smirked, though his eyes held a careful caution to them, his shoulders a hair higher than they'd been seconds before. "Yes? It's not like I have anything to hide from you Mr. Detective." He said, turning his back on Saguru and heading deeper inside. "Don't bother with the guest shoes though, I don't need them changing colors."

Saguru made a face, shutting the door behind him and toeing off his shoes before he cautiously followed his classmate deeper into the house. If this situation had occurred in the first thirty-six hours of him being rescued from the vat, Kuroba would have had a valid concern. But his clothes had stopped turning blue from the excess dye coming off his skin before the second day was through.

He'd expected Kuroba to guide him into the living room or else the kitchen where there would be less of a chance of him coming across anything incriminating, but the magician darted up the stairs with a simple "Come on," tossed over his shoulder.

Saguru stopped at the bottom of the staircase, frowning as he looked about the house. Why did he feel like he was walking into some sort of trap? Surely Kuroba wouldn't actually let a detective intent on catching KID into his inner doma-

"Dude, I don't have all day. Get up here." Kuroba's voice echoed down the stairs.

"Forgive me for being skeptical of your intentions, Kuroba-kun." Hakuba said, warily climbing the steps.

A soft laugh reached his ears. "Like I said, Hakubaka I have nothing to hide."

So why invite him inside now of all times? Why not months earlier? Why not the first time he'd come snooping around? Saguru ran his fingers along the scars on his arm. Surely their talk at the ferris wheel hadn't changed that much between them...right? While there had been miniscule adjustments in their dynamic since then, he hadn't considered it enough to warrant this current meeting.

Unsure what to expect as he topped the stairs, Saguru paused once more, taking in the small details of a section of the house he'd never expected to see without a warrant.

Kuroba was waiting for him, leaning against the wall by a door that more than likely led to his bedroom. His arms were crossed, eyes intent on Saguru. "Alright, out with it. What actually happened to you?"

Saguru raised an eyebrow. All this intrigue...for a question? Kuroba could have asked him at school easily enough. "I thought that was obvious." What wasn't obvious was why Kuroba waited until they were upstairs to ask him.

Kuroba rolled his eyes, fingers twitching on his arm as he leaned forward. "Let me rephrase then, tell me how you ended up looking like a blueberry."

Saguru grimaced, running a hand through his hair, careful to maintain eye contact with his classmate. It was probably only fair that he knew the truth, since the magician had covered for him at school today. Still… he didn't like- "While in London I was assigned to help the police there track down a man who was stealing recipes for creating certain specialized colors within a well known textile company." He recited. "When I discovered the potential identity of the thief and that he was working at one of their factories I went and confronted him. He took off along the catwalks and I gave chase, but I-" Saguru broke eye contact, instead focusing on a small hallway table that held a vase of red roses. "I ended up falling into a large vat of cobalt dye when I rounded a corner too fast and fell over the railing."

"You...fell."

Again, Saguru thanked the Gods that Kuroba couldn't see how red his face had to be getting. It was an embarrassing situation as it was. He didn't really need to give his classmate more fodder for his teasing and pranks at school. "Yes and the thief shut the vat's lid on me before I could escape."

Complete darkness. Unable to get more than a tenuous handhold on a single weathered rung. His right arm still hadn't recovered its full strength, even with the past couple of months of physical therapy, to be able to pull him up any higher to reach the lid and push it open.

He'd been stuck waiting, clinging to the side of the vat filled with dye. Waiting for the thief or a worker to turn it on and kill him from the heat without ever knowing he'd been trapped inside.

A shiver went down his spine. There had been no reason for the police to come looking for him there. Not with the walls of the vat too thick for him to be heard if he screamed.

He drew in a shaky breath. Yet...somehow, they had found him. "It took an officer fifty-three minutes to find me and help me out after they caught him."

An officer he'd never gotten a chance to thank. Didn't even know his name. Saguru had been too focused on grabbing the man's arm and getting out of the vat and back to safety. By the time he'd recovered his senses, the officer had vanished and he hadn't been at the police station when Saguru had come to file his statement and see the textile thief locked up.

"And I've looked like this ever since."

Saguru flinched as Kuroba unexpectedly took his left arm, avoiding the right like he'd been doing since the accident at the heist.

He hadn't realized the magician had moved closer to him.

Kuroba pushed up the sleeve to rub his thumb over his blue skin, a contemplative look on his face. "Textile dye huh." He mumbled.

He knew that look. Knew what Kuroba had to be thinking. "It's not like you can fix it, Kuroba-kun." He said, shaking his head. Why would he even want to? "This isn't like yours or KID's dyes where a bit of baby powder, vinegar, or lemon juice will wash it all out."

Kuroba smirked, tugging him towards the open door halfway down the hallway. "You already tried all that?"

"I've tried everything." He said, following his classmate to what looked like an ordinary bedroom...with the exception of a giant portrait of a magician hanging on the wall. Saguru frowned, but tore his attention away from it to focus on Kuroba. Thanks to all the pranks he'd had to endure over the past year and a half from him, Saguru had quite the arsenal of potential fixes to try. "Nothing works. Kuroba-kun." He pulled his arm free, gesturing to himself. "I'm still as blue as when they pulled me out and that's been a week ago now."

Kuroba rubbed his fingers together, a mischievous gleam to his eyes as he gave another not-quite KID grin. "Not everything."